Eldrin, the Argonian boy
by ChococatForOverlordOfEarth
Summary: Eldrin accidentally becomes a hero. Now him, and his two friends, travel Tamriel even though the boy would like to hide from his new reputation.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was the 7th day of Second Seed which meant that the people of Mournhold were excited for the Second Planting. The early morning hours had brought light through bars to come to rest on dark scales.

As the day grew older the light moved to shine brightly on a pair of closed eyes. Ice cold blue eyes opened and the young Argonian boy sighed as he remembered where he was.

It was the events of more than a week ago, that landed him in this cell. He tried to pickpocket a ring off a Dunmer woman whom he knew always had the ring on her person.

Spatial awareness was never a strong suit of his, but he was working on memorizing the Ordinators patrol schedule. His face was angular and dark. On his rough black facial scales he wore markings of red running down a line through his cheek from his shapely eye sockets. The red appeared again in two lines vertically from the top of his bottom lip to the lowest part of his chin where he had grown some small spikes into the shape of a goatee. Atop his head was a collection of tall black spikes. He was rather lanky for a boy and he was always teased about having a small frame.

He sat up on the bed he had been sleeping on for the last week or so. Today they come get me, he thought to himself and just as he completed the thought he heard a familiar voice outside the window.

"Zuryl believes that it is passed sleeping hours for Eldrin." She was a Suthay-raht Khajiit and a good friend of his. Although her speech left something to be desired he always thought she was very articulate for a Khajiit.

"It's hard to stay asleep on this metal frame." He said looking towards the floor of the square room. Zuryl was leaning her back on the outside wall as she talked to her companion.

They both had small smiles on their faces, "This one is glad. The time has been much boring without Zuryl's friend. Kadriel told this one she misses the lizard as well. Eldrin's parents are coming, yes?"

He frowned slightly, "Yes they are. Hopefully to free me instead of lecture me again." Eldrin's parents had visited over the last week but it was mostly just to scold him for his actions. His parents couldn't afford the bounty he'd acquired so he had to fulfill his sentence in jail.

"Zuryl must go. She would not want Eldrin's parents to think poorly of her. Meet this one near the usual spot after you are free." He nodded after he heard her steps as she walked away without waiting for an answer.

It was not long after that that he heard more familiar voices coming from the Ordinators table. As he stood near the steel gate trying to see what was happening, a guard appeared in front of him. He jumped slightly with the guard's unexpected appearance.

"Your guardians are here to collect you. Try to stay out of trouble this time," as he swung the door open for the young Argonian. Eldrin was hesitant to see them but it was an obligation if he wanted to spend the night in a soft bed. He thought about sneaking into the house later and avoiding them altogether but the thought quickly vanished when he saw their faces.

"I hope this has taught you your lesson," his father, Haevyn, stated dryly. Rutalu stayed quiet as she was never the one that disciplined their son. Eldrin stayed silent too. That was the best way to avoid fighting with them lately.

Haevyn continued to lecture his son about honesty and hard work all the way back to their farmhouse on the outskirts of Mournhold.

The Dunmer couple was old enough to be his grandparents. Haevyn was never fond of fighting but he kept enough armor and weapons to defend himself and his family. Rutalu was an adept healer, she just happened to make life work for the pair where ever they were called too. They were never able to have children of their own and since they were the only parents Eldrin ever knew, the family setup they had was unusual but good in a way.

The house was very small, no separate rooms or anything, just beds against the walls, a fireplace, a table and some chairs. There was a trap door to a basement under their only rug but Eldrin had never seen what was down there. He walked to his cot and sat down on it, continuing to focus on the ground, and buried his face in his hands.

"Eldrin, are you even listening to your father?" He hated his name, and winced with the use of it. How could they be called his mother and father? Eldrin was a Dunmer name and it always hurt his pride to be called by it.

He looked up, a small scowl on his face, "Yes yes, no stealing, is it alright if I go back to the city?" His mother was surprised, "You just got home after a week of no chores, you think you could help out here for a while first?"

Eldrin groaned, walked outside, and proceeded to complete the work he was expected to do. Haevyn came out to work by his side, the pair in silence the whole time.

A few hours went by and he happily ran into the city to meet up with his friends, still very dirty from the farm work but his dark scales hid the dirt well. Kadriel, a small wood elf, and Zuryl were waiting for him in the shadow of the town center.

"Eldrin looks like he has not cleaned himself in days…" Zuryl had a disgusted look on her face as Eldrin ran up to the pair, "Good to see you too, Zuryl."

Kadriel hugged Eldrin regardless of how dirty the Khajiit said he was. "Do you realize how late you are?" She asked the lizard while still hugging him. He let go and they moved away from each other, "No, I got held up at home. I hurried over here before you two could leave without me."

Zuryl butted in, "Ah yes, the plans for this evening. Eldrin made it just in time." He could never tell when the Khajiit was serious or sarcastic. The two beasts locked eyes and Zuryl gave him a small grin.

Kadriel's expression grew to concern, "We checked it out earlier and security is a little bit tighter than we initially thought so we might need to arm ourselves…"

Both of the girls were looking at Eldrin for an answer, "Well what are you expecting, I thought my role in this was just to show up?"

Zuryl tilted her head, "This one remembers hearing of a Dunmer warrior that lives in Eldrin's house… Maybe Eldrin steals weapons, yes?" Eldrin's eyes widened, "I can't rob my own house!"

Kadriel put a hand on his shoulder, "It's more like borrowing, we'll return it by morning but you need to go get it now and meet us there or we won't have enough time."

Panic began to set in, "There was never supposed to be violen—" Zuryl grabbed him and got her face very close to his, "The lizard's family is not wealthy, quite the depressing situation yes. Eldrin is completing this task to survive, no?"

He looked at Kadriel, her eyes looked like they were begging him. His stomach sank and his posture became exhausted as he pulled away from the cat's grasp, "Why does it have to be me? Zuryl is the better choice."

The cat blushed at the compliment, "Surely Eldrin knows his house better than this one. Yes Zuryl has never been there. Not to mention the lizard's wimpy body can fit in more places than this one's." He was so used to them poking fun at his size that he almost expected it.

"Alright, fine. I'll meet you there."

Kadriel was the shortest of the trio. Her hair was deep auburn with a small set of horns coming from her forehead. She had a petite body covered in tattoos. Her face was soft and the only part of her body free of markings. Zuryl was the tallest of all three of them. She was a white Khajiit with red facial markings down her cheeks. She often cursed her white fur since it was not very good for hiding. It reflected lots of light and often gave her position away.

All three of them were from similar backgrounds; they all became friends because they related to one another. The trio were roughians but still barely teenagers. The Ebonheart Pact capitol accepted them all within its walls, albeit with some prejudice from the locals.

As he ran home he thought about everything that could go wrong. His parents could be in the house sleeping, they could catch him stealing from them…

They were important people to him. He snuck around the fences and saw the Dunmer pair outside the house just visiting with each other on the porch. He figured this meant that he had time to sneak through the window.  
The young Argonian lifted the window and, as graceful as ever, flopped through the frame. It's not even that high off the ground… he thought while holding his now hurt shoulder.

There wasn't too much time to recover though as he pulled the rug away from the trapdoor and began to pick the lock. The lock was open in a matter of seconds. The one thing he was good at, lock picking. He swung his legs around to feel for some stairs or a ladder.

After having found one, promptly climbed down and shut the door behind him. The basement was well lit which he thought was strange. There was all of Haevyn's armor and weapons hung neatly on racks in the corner of the stone room.

Eldrin was scrawnier than Haevyn's armor would allow so the lizard just opted to grab some weapons. Unfortunately Haevyn only had one sword but it looked sharp which was all he knew what weapons were supposed to be like.

The Argonian grabbed the sword and climbed the ladder to exit. This was only the second time in his life that he had even held a sword, it felt clumsy. Just as he was slipping back out the window he heard his parents on the other side of the house, entering. He crouched low, hoping that they wouldn't hear his footfalls as he left.

The walk after that was long and he tried to avoid the Ordinators outside the walls as best he could but the ones that saw him didn't seem to care much. Finally he'd reached the borders of the camp and he saw the girls hidden behind a rock. He crouched over to them and they began to scold him for only bringing one sword.

"Now with only one sword the responsibility falls on you entirely. Go scout ahead and we'll follow when we know it's safe," Kadriel sounded very cold and unsympathetic.

Eldrin sighed, "One of you can take it then." He outstretched the hand holding the sword as an offer but the girls shook their heads.

The lizard sighed again and began to climb the edge of the hill that overlooked the camp. He held the sword but thought constantly about how he had no idea how to use it.

What would happen if I had to use it? I don't think I could really… He was almost to the top now he could see the lights from the fires below. The camp was on the edge of a lake, but it seemed to be facing away from the lake as the biggest tent was on the lakes edge. He began his descent down towards the water.

Ugh so much walking especially if I have to walk around. Just as he'd finished the thought his foot slipped on a loose rock and he went tumbling down the cliff face. The sword was still in his hand and his thoughts were on his fate if he'd lost it. His efforts were spent not trying to catch himself but rather not to stab himself while he was falling. The water's edge approached more and more with every spin and tumble.

On his final tumble he saw the face of a Dunmer. Their bodies collided face to face. Eldrin's first and only thought was that the Dunmer had been bathing and he had crashed into a naked stranger.

The water was deep enough to cover them both horizontally but Eldrin quickly stood up. Barely waist deep in the water, he looked down trying to figure out what had happened.

The water started to change color and the Argonian began to panic. He plunged his hands into the water to find his new friend and finally pulled him up to the surface of the water with a sword jutting out of his chest at an angle.

The Dunmer floated easily in Eldrin's arms as the lizard stared in awe. The look of disbelief on the Dunmer's face was rather whimsical especially with the same shocked expression being mirrored back at him.

Blood spurted once or twice but mostly it was oozing from the wound and coating the Argonian's face and chest. Eldrin sensed a certain familiarity about the dark elf as he studied the face of his victim; he noticed the light fading in those deep red eyes. It felt like he had spent eons watching this mer die but only a second or two had passed.

A scream snapped Eldrin back into reality. A female Dunmer from about 5 meters away. He noted that she was also naked as he pulled the sword from the dead Dunmer and left the body to float on the surface of the water.

The boy tried to sprint out of the water but strange hands were clawing at him. Pure instinct sent his swordless hand backwards at his female assailant and he heard a small squeal and a big splash. Trying to make his way back to his friends, the lizard kept falling and scrambling.

The hill eventually gets too steep to climb so he settled on finding a hiding place underneath the cliff overhang at the top of the hill. As he tucked himself into some rocks a thought struck him, Who else might have heard that scream…

Eldrin stopped and realized his panicked breathing was incredibly loud and tried to calm down. The lizard heard a commotion coming from the camp below but he dared not peek around the concealing rocks. He just waited.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

8th of Second Seed 12:37am

The night was very dark and mostly quiet save a few footfalls and rustling. Only a handful of seconds had gone by since the Argonian boy had stopped in the rocks. A furry claw grabbed the Argonian by the shoulder and pulled him from the rocks.

Eldrin stifled a shriek of surprise. "Lizard friend, you are okay!" Zuryl was hanging by a rope she had fastened to a sturdy tree at the top of the cliff face. When Eldrin looked up he could see Kadriel's face peering over the edge.

The cat pushed him up the rope, encouraging him to climb it without saying another word. Eldrin began to climb up the cliff, keeping the sword sheathed, with the Khajiit right behind him.

As soon as they'd reached the top of the cliff, Eldrin tried to catch his breath and Kadriel began asking questions. He was hunched over his knees, sitting on his heels, both palms pressed against soil. Breathing heavily, he wrestled in his mind over what had just transpired.

Kadriel leaned over and put a hand on his back, "Elly! Seriously! Listen to me! Whose blood is that?" What a time to be using her cute nickname for him, he thought.

Eldrin stood up and looked at his hands then his gaze shifted to his clothes. Panic set in deeper and deeper as he frantically looked all over his body. He wiped his face with his left hand and looked at what came off his face.

The lizard reeled backwards in horror, tripping over his own feet and falling onto the ground, "That's blood!" He sounded like he was expecting something else.

Zuryl stared at him in confusion but Kadriel was determined to get answers. She knelt down beside him and in a calm voice, "Yes it is. We heard the scream and saw you running up the cliff. Now we'll figure this mess out shortly but right now we need to get moving." Still in a state of shock Eldrin just nodded.

"Eldrin cannot return to his nest looking like this…" Zuryl's observation made the other two pause for a moment. Kadriel stood up and looked down at the lizard, "We can't walk him through town covered in blood either…"

She crossed her arms and thought for a minute, "I've got it, give me the sword and take your clothes off." Both Eldrin and Zuryl exclaimed at the same time, "What?!"

Kadriel rolled her eyes and unfolded her arms, outstretching one of them to receive the sword. "We're going to make it look like you were mugged. I have to get that sword home for you."

Zuryl nodded in approval but Eldrin wasn't moving. Kadriel sighed, "No really take your time. That's something we've got plenty of at the moment." Eldrin looked at them both from his position on the ground, "But… I…" he curled into the fetal position to cover himself up more. Growing up as a dark elf child taught him to be shy about showing off his scales no matter how flamboyant the culture seemed.

Fear induced panic replaced by embarrassment and shyness. Kadriel became angry, "Oh that's another thing we've got time for; you to be embarrassed in front of your friends who are only trying to help you."

Zuryl had picked up a rock and was tossing it up in the air while she spoke, "Why not let this one knock him unconscious now? This will save the embarrassment being seen and it will give Zuryl the freedom to enjoy looking yes?" Eldrin's eyes grew wide again for a few reasons this time. He started to crawl backwards as the cat approached him.

Kadriel tried to hold back the cat. Without any hesitation Zuryl just leaned and struck him hard enough on the head to break one of the spines he had for hair. She then quickly scooped up one of his legs and started sprinting towards the city with the lizard in tow. Kadriel sighed and rolled her eyes again. She picked up the chunk of Eldrin's spike, and took off after the Khajiit.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As the sun was coming up, Eldrin was awakened by an Ordinator guard poking at him with her boot, "Good night eh?" He sat up and put a hand to his head, squinting to look at the guard.

"Ah no, I…." Slightly more aware of what was happening he perked up quickly, "Where are my clothes?!" Remembering the plan he added, "And my coin purse for that matter…" The guard sighed and took on a more fatigued posture, "You're really going to try to tell me that you were robbed?"

Eldrin stood up, "Well… yes actually. I was out for a… uh.. walk late last night and now I'm here..." The guard grabbed his arm and started dragging him into the city. "P-please beli—"

"How old are you? You shouldn't even be out late at night especially outside the city walls." She sounded harsh and concerned at the same time.

"I, ugh… where are you taking me?" Eldrin couldn't believe this was happening, how could he expect someone else to believe it?

"The city prison. I'll let your parents know to come get you once we've….verified your story." He gasped, "But how do you know who they-,"

"Eldrin right? The Ordinators know you and your… situation by now." He lurched a little at the news that now the Guards knew who he was. His keen sense of smell told him that Zuryl and Kadriel were somewhere nearby, watching.

The boy hung his head low and offered no more resistance to the guard. Especially since he could feel his friends' snickering at his expense.

As he was being dragged through the city, he tried his best not to make eye contact with anyone. Right outside the prison there was a poster board for wanted criminals.

Eldrin always liked studying it; he thought he could make some coin if he turned in a wanted criminal simply by recognizing them. He looked up just in time to see the face of the Dunmer man he killed yesterday evening and read it quietly to himself, "Faldrek Arandor," I knew I recognized his face.

An hour barely had gone by when his parents rushed in, "Julekil!" his mother exclaimed. He winced at the word and groaned when she grabbed him. Still in cuffs he couldn't do much else anyway.

Haevyn argued with the Ordinators to let their son go and how they shouldn't have to see him cuffs. Eldrin didn't care to listen to the rest, he just wanted this day to end and to go back home.

After a little longer he was released to his parents and they lectured him all the way home about his dangerous behavior. He stared at the ground for the rest of the walk.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

13th of Second Seed 8:03am

The morning was still young and Eldrin couldn't sleep so he finished all his chores early. When his parents got up and left the house he stayed behind to read on his cot so he could enjoy having the house to himself.

The silence and enjoyment was broken when he heard rustling outside the half open window. He got up and sighed, already knowing who it was. "Come to mock me some more, Zuryl?" He heard a pair of small giggles and rolled his eyes, "Oh good, Kadriel's here too..."

Eldrin walked back to his cot to continue his laying and reading. The girls forced the window open and let themselves in. Without moving his cold blue eyes from his book, "Please come in ladies."

They laughed fairly loudly this time. Eldrin let out a long sigh. In between laughs Kadriel managed to mock the lizard more, "You should be honored the guard knows you. It means they care."

Eldrin put down his book and glared at the wood elf from his laying posture. Zuryl chimed in, "Or it means you are a poor thief." They both laughed again.

Zuryl pulled a motionless animal from a pocket on her person, "Look, Zuryl brought the lizard a dead skeever because he is too hopeless to feed himself." Sure enough she dropped the dead animal at the foot of his cot.

Eldrin glared at both of them without moving his head. "Oh come on Elly, you haven't left home in days," Kadriel sat down next to him on his cot. Annoyed, he asked, "What do you want?"

The wood elf took the book from Eldrin's hands and put it down on his parents' bed. "Well besides your forgiveness for what was necessary to keep you safe, we would like to talk about what happened." She sounded cross but not enough for it to be sincere.

Eldrin only continued glaring at her. Zuryl sat on the other side of the cot, "This Khajiit only wants what is best for her friend… and seeing Eldrin without clothes made her heart feel strange." Giggling, Kadriel pushed the cat off the cot.

"No really Elly, we're sorry that our solution to a bad situation was imperfect." Kadriel rested a hand on his shoulder. He sighed again, "Fine. What do you want to know? Besides that I didn't scout properly." He decided they weren't going to leave unless he talked to them.

"What happened first of all? What do you remember happening?" Eldrin blinked a few times out of displeasure, very bored with the conversation already, he took a deep breath, "I was scouting the camp and I fell down the hill. I landed in the water on top of a Dunmer." The girls both stifled a giggle.

Eldrin rolled his eyes, "When I pulled him to the surface of the water, I noticed my father's sword protruding from his chest. Another Dunmer screamed and I ran." Kadriel patted him, "So you don't know who he was?"

Eldrin scoffed, "I didn't at the time, no." Kadriel's expression changed from curious to tender, "Oh but you do now?" He nodded and she continued, "Well we figured it out shortly after you'd been taken into custody. His subordinates brought his corpse to the Tribunal for a proper burial. They made a huge deal out of what an idol he was to Dunmer everywhere in which they actually listed all his crimes as evidence."

Eldrin's anticipation grew as Kadriel paused for dramatic effect, "We've been telling everyone what a hero you are! And what good you've done for slaves across Morrowind!"

They both leaned in and hugged him. He quickly shooed them away, "Excuse me, what?"

The girls looked at each other, "Eldrin heroically crushed the heart of Dunmer Slave Trader then washed his hands with the blood of slaver associates!" Zuryl exclaimed.

Eldrin stood up and started to get angry, "No no no it was an accident!" Kadriel tried to comfort him, "You killed a slave trader, we didn't see what happened but we did see the body. Why throw away our chance to be wealthy if not for heroics?" He sneered, "I don't care about being heroic. Murder isn't in my nature."

Kadriel snapped back, "Does it matter? The slaver is dead and you're a hero." Even more upset with her callousness the boy shouted, "Yes it matters! I killed a mer and you two are celebrating!"

Kadriel looked confused, "Elly… it's not just us who are celebrating. This news has spread through the whole city and possibly will keep spreading to all of Tamriel."

Argonians were never very expressive but he was feeling particularly frustrated and his face reflected it, "So I accidentally kill a slave trader, you two decide that it must have been on purpose despite my telling you what actually happened. Then, because we had no idea who he was at the time, you two, again, decide that I cannot return home bloody, proceed to beat me unconscious and leave me to be found by the guard. After that, you two find out who the Dunmer was and decide to tell all of Mournhold that I heroically took his life, again, despite the fact that I keep telling you two it was accidental."

The pair nodded and Kadriel began looking very pleased, "We never thought you were capable of such things. We were upset you squandered our chance to be wealthy at first but now… We're very proud of you."

Eldrin backed himself up against the wall and sank to the floor. He buried his head in his hands, "I'm not."

Kadriel took on a confused look again and knelt next to the lizard, "You're not... proud?" He retorted, "I'm not capable of such things."

The wood elf shuffled closer to Eldrin and hugged him, "It's alright. You need only to stop running from it and embrace it." She pulled away and gestured to the Khajiit back to the window to make their exit.

Zuryl took the dead skeever with her on their way out. He sat on the floor for a long while trying to figure out how he was going to 'embrace' this. He heard his parents on the porch and he quickly hopped onto his cot and opened his book.

Rutalu entered the cabin and smiled when she saw her son. She walked over to him and he bowed his head in anticipation of her kissing the top of his head.

"Are you going to read all day?" Haevyn asked.

"I was planning on it," Eldrin didn't even trouble himself to look at his father.

"We need a few things from the market. We thought it might be a nice chance for you to see your friends too," Haevyn's suggestion was more of a command.

"It's been a little rou-,"

"I'm not asking," Haevyn interrupted. The Argonian stood up and grabbed the list as well as a coin purse from his mother's outstretched hand. As he was leaving, Rutalu handed him a basket too.

The Argonian had learned to sew his own clothes early on so he didn't have to wear Dunmer style outfits but for the first few years of his life, he wore what his mother gave him. He was getting more stares now than he ever did before in those awkward times in embarrassing elven clothing.

The boy examined the stones on the ground on his way through the city, trying to avoid looking into peoples' faces. When he got to the market district, his first stop was always the fruit stand.

The Argonian that ran the fruit stand was a friend of Eldrin's since he was a child. She knew his situation well and tried as best she could to help Eldrin grow up and help him understand what it was to be Saxhleel.

"Ah Eldrin, I haven't seen you in a while, your scales staying moist?" Eldrin smiled at her, "Nam-Na, I hope your scales are moist as well." He handed her the basket with the list inside it and she began to gather the fruits on the list, "I hear you have experienced a change in the course of rivers."

Eldrin looked down again, "Oh… you heard about that?" She continued to put fruits in the basket and smiled, "Yes but I never thought of you in such light." He smiled and looked up at her. Just as he took a breath to say something another Argonian grabbed him by the shoulders frantically.

"Slave hero! Many of my egg brothers were taken from their nests by Dres butchers! The butchers are too powerful for me, they need you! They are being held on a plantation just southwest of the main gates."

Eldrin was mortified and it conveyed onto his face. The Argonian was so close to his face, barking demands at him that he lurched a little. Eldrin took a step back and removed the foreign hands from his shoulders.

"I… uh.. need to get my market errands done?" He handed a few coins to Nam-Na and took the basket from her. The Argonian stranger took the basket from him.

"I'll take these back to your nest for you." The stranger handed Eldrin a sword and took off with the basket. "It appears the Hist is calling on you for greater things, Eldrin." Nam-Na smiled.

"I.." He sighed, "Did he say southwest?" Nam-Na nodded and Eldrin turned away, walking slowly out of town so he could watch for his friends. Maybe they could help for once.


	4. Chapter 4

13th of Second Seed 10:56am

The sunlight was warm on Eldrin's scales as he searched for his friends on his way out of the city. The warmth comforted him somewhat as he moved towards the edge of the big stone walls.

Luckily he saw Zuryl leaning against a building near the gates. He ran to her, "Zuryl I need your help."

Zuryl didn't move her head, only moving her eyes to glare at him, "Zuryl is very busy today." She started to make gestures with her arms and walk around Eldrin in circles, "Whole schedule full! No time for lizard today! None! No help from Zuryl!" She told him in different ways the same message over and over and she continued to do so even as Eldrin saw Kadriel emerge from around a corner.

Kadriel walked up to the pair and when Zuryl saw her she stopped mid-sentence, "Now Zuryl has time for you, lizard." Eldrin gave her a confused look with a skewed brow, "Yes I… what were you two doing?"

Kadriel jumped in, "Don't worry about it! What did you need?" Eldrin shrugged, "Someone asked me to rescue some kidnapped Argonians. He recognized me from your… stories so I need you two to help me out of this mess."

Kadriel and Zuryl started to laugh like they did a few hours ago in his house. Eldrin jeered, "This is your fault!" Zuryl nodded and Kadriel composed herself, "Fine fine we'll help you Elly, lead the way." Taken aback by the speed to which they agreed Eldrin reluctantly said, "T-Thank you."

Eldrin noticed that the Khajiit and the Bosmer now carried weapons, which was out of character for them both. Petty thievery is something that doesn't require much force or violence.

Kadriel's only obvious weapon was a bow and Zuryl had two sheathed daggers on her hip. Eldrin found himself wondering where and how they even obtained weapons and why they suddenly required them, as the trio walked out of town.

By the time the sun was setting, the plantation was on the horizon. Eldrin stopped and looked at the other two, "What's the plan?"

Kadriel giggled, "You are the slave hero! We're mostly here for your encouragement." Eldrin hissed, "Hatch-Daks! Both of you!"

Both of their faces displayed astonishment. Zuryl immediately recovered from her surprise, "Eldrin insults us with his lizard tongue but Zuryl does not know why. You are the hero, not this one."

Eldrin rolled his eyes and sighed, "You two stay out of sight. I might need you to come to my rescue…" he muttered the rest under his breath, "then you two can be the heroes."

Eldrin took off towards the plantation with the wood elf and the Khajiit in tow.

Night fell as they got closer Kadriel and Zuryl tucked themselves into some rocks for a good vantage point and hiding place. Eldrin crouched low and watched the farm for a while, picking out who the patrols were and listening for where they were keeping the captives.

Eventually he decided that he was ready and weaved his way in between the scarce security as he wandered into the main building. The door was very mute as he entered. He heard arguing coming from upstairs.

Slowly approaching the stairs, he stopped and listened. "We should move them into the mine for more productive work," the voice sounded like a female Dunmer. A male Dunmer answered her, "Yes, we'll move them in the morning."

The sound of her footsteps coming towards the stairs forced him to move into a doorway under the stairs. The woman came down the stairs and hit the bottom stair just as he shifted into place. His gracefulness betrayed him as it normally does, and he knocked over a broom with a misplaced foot.

The woman stopped and looked around as the male Dunmer came down the stairs, "What was that?" As soon as the broom hit the floor, Eldrin started looking around the small square that passed for a room, finding a trapdoor. The female Dunmer was still looking around, "I'm not sure…" She walked towards the doorway Eldrin was hiding in, he attempted to slink through the trapdoor silently but the wood plank that held the entrance closed made a lot of noise when he opened it.

The woman managed to poke her head into the doorway just in time to see that the door was already closed. Gesturing for the male Dunmer to follow her, he took an extra few seconds to find torches.

Eldrin missed all the steps in the ladder and fell, three meters, hard onto his front. There were several gasps from the dark. Smells told him there were fellow Saxhleel in the room. His eyes had adjusted to the dark before he even entered the house and he saw several tied up Argonians surrounding him.

The boy hastily put himself into a sitting position and threw the sword off to the side. He put his hands behind his back and waited amongst the captive Argonians. They were all whispering to each other and Eldrin prayed they would be quiet soon.

The trapdoor opened only a handful of seconds after Eldrin had fallen into its opening. The pair of Dunmer came down the ladder holding torches. Without saying a word they began to look around the room.

Eldrin was trying so hard to cover up the pain he felt from the fall. "One of you does not belong here," the male Dunmer sounded smug.

The woman started, "Muvros, you can't ju-" He held up his hand and she quieted herself.

Muvros bargained, "If you tell us which one it is, we will let all of you go free." Eldrin looked around anxiously. He was searching the others' faces for any sign of giving in and hoping that none of them would believe that lie, though every other Argonian in the room were hanging their heads in shame the whole time.

Panic forced the boy to look around, while all others remained still. That nervous gesture gave him away.

Muvros leaned in real close to Eldrin's face, "Ah it's you then." A shiver went up Eldrin's spine as he jolted up straighter.

Muvros stood up and unsheathed the axe attached to his hip. The dark elf woman gasped as the male Dunmer drew the axe backwards to gain more momentum for a more powerful strike.

The axe aimed precisely in the middle of Eldrin's head, he put his hands up to block the weapon but rather far apart from each other. The axe came crashing down onto a horizontal column of light.

The noise was terrible but instead of reeling from the horrific sound, Eldrin looked up. He continued to hold the Aedric spear as the Dunmer kept trying to force the axe downwards.

Finally Muvros withdrew the axe and looked at the lizard in frustration and confusion. Eldrin stood up and examined his new weapon; there was no weight to it but there was something familiar about it.

Muvros rushed at him, shouting for a more frantic look. Eldrin blocked and parried even better with this new weapon than he ever did before.

Eldrin saw an opening for a strike and went to jab at the dark elves side. In the middle of the thrust, the spear vanished.

Eldrin looked at his hands in shock. His confidence changed into distress as he looked over to see Muvros with the axe overhead ready to bring it down onto him. Now unarmed, he rolled to the side to dodge the attack.

The axe making contact with the stone floor made a nasty sound. As Eldrin stood up from his roll, he was grabbed from behind; the foreign arms slipped under his armpits and went into a vertical position to lock his arms into an uncomfortable position.

 _The woman_ … he sighed internally. She was as tall as him, which he was unhappy about. He thought that if he had just been a little taller, she would be unable to hold him. He fought against the woman's embrace but gasped loudly when he saw Muvros was in another attack position a few meters away, headed straight for him.

The boy's eyes got very wide as he struggled to come up with his next move. He wrestled a little more against the woman holding him and accidentally lost his balance when he slid his foot too far backwards and subsequently knocked his assailants footing out from under her.

Eldrin shifted all his weight to his other leg before he fell forward launching the woman over his back. She flew over his back with a midair spin. Muvros was already committed to his attack but when he saw that his axe was going to make contact with his accomplice's back while she was cartwheeling, he let go of the axe.

She rolled into Muvros knees and they fell on top of each other. Eldrin picked himself up rather clumsily and grabbed the axe. Before the Dunmer pair could recover he pointed the tip of the axe at Muvros' neck.

"I yield," Muvros tone was much less smug than before. Eldrin let out a sigh of relief.

The audible opening of the trapdoor snapped Eldrin back into his heightened alert state. He recognized the figure coming down the ladder out of the corner of his eye and relaxed again.

Refusing to break eye contact with the Dres butchers, Eldrin asked, "Will you cut these Argonians loose?" The wood elf pulled a small blade from her ankle sling and began setting the captives free.

Muvros decided not to stay quiet, "I recognize you. You're that 'slave hero' everyone is excited about, aren't you?"

Not only are random people from town calling for his attention but now even these butchers knew who he was.

Unable to hide the surprise from his face, Muvros continued, "You are! Eldrin isn't it? But you're an Argonian! How in the world did you end up with a Dunmeri name? Were you jealous that you weren't born a dark elf so you assumed the name of one? Or is it something more sinister?"

Eldrin's eyes wandered to Kadriel and she stared back at him, stopping midway through cutting the last Argonian's bonds; both incredibly taken by disbelief. She quickly broke the stare and finished what she was doing.

As soon as all the captives were up the ladder and free, Kadriel climbed the ladder and Eldrin forced the butchers up the ladder one by one where the Bosmer tied them up at the top.

The girl smiled at Eldrin, "Why don't I hold the axe next time and you do all the dirty work?"

The boy really didn't appreciate her attitude but her timing and helpfulness was impeccable so he smiled back at her with gratitude, "Thank you for helping me, your timing was perfect."

Kadriel blushed, "Well Zuryl and I heard fighting coming from the basement so we-."

Muvros wasn't done poking fun at the Argonian hero though and interrupted Kadriel, "Either way I expected you to be… bigger? You don't even sound like you were born in Black Marsh. Were you born to slaves? But you don't wear the clothes of a slave…"

Kadriel raised an eyebrow at the brashness of the dark elf.

"Where is Zuryl?" Eldrin asked, ignoring the Dunmer altogether.

"Right here lizard friend. This one likes to keep watch. Are you returning Dunmer prisoners to the Ordinators?"

Zuryl joined their little walking party and they all continued walking to town together.

"Yes, I'm not sure what else to do with them. You made sure all the captives got off the plantation safely?"

Zuryl nodded, "This one heard talk of your heroic exploits." Eldrin glared at her and she giggled, "Your escape from the woman's hold was… dumbfounding yes."

Eldrin sighed and moved his gaze to the ground, "I would swear it was unintentional but I'm certain you two won't agree."

Muvros stopped and sat on the ground. Everyone stopped as he sat down. "Problem wicked elf?" Zuryl always sounded so heartless.

Muvros didn't bother looking up at them, "You're not going to make me walk the whole way. I demand a caravan or a cart."

Kadriel knelt down near him, "Have some dignity and face your crimes with your head held high."

The Dunmer smiled and Zuryl began to drag him. The four of them walked in silence all the way to the city.


	5. Chapter 4a

9th of Heartfire 563

The air was cold and the sun was low in the sky. Haevyn was doing his best to teach Eldrin to block but the Argonian child was just cringing instead. Obviously Haevyn wasn't using his full strength on the child but rather just letting the weight of the stick carry it down towards the lizard. Eldrin covered his head with his hands and began to cry when the stick landed on his head. Haevyn knelt down to comfort the young Argonian; showing him again how to hold up the piece of bark to shield himself from the stick. The baby was giggling and flailing the bark about so Haevyn thought he might get it this time. Haevyn raised the stick again and dropped it towards Eldrin, again striking him in the head. The child began to cry again. Haevyn repeated this process with the Argonian another eight times.

On the last attempt, Haevyn was still crouched near the child but decided not to offer comfort. The baby was still crying as he raised the stick just above the Argonian's head. He dropped it and as it fell towards Eldrin's head, the child lifted his hands above his head. A small, long cylinder of light materialized in the hands of the baby, it swung around and hit the stick away as Haevyn fell backwards in disbelief. The baby's tears began to dry and he started to stack stones on top of one another, as if nothing had happened. Haevyn blinked a few times before getting up. He picked up the lizard child and walked into the house.

3rd of First Seed 566

Haevyn was disappointed to learn that his son was already in the petty thievery business. His prejudice leading his mind to draw its own conclusions. Rutalu insisted he only took the apple because he was hungry and too young to understand what stealing was. Haevyn thought the boy might need some more disciplined activities in his life. Thus Haevyn resumed teaching Eldrin how to defend himself. Sticks and bark were great ways to learn without much risk and Haevyn thought the boy was going to need a lot of time and mistakes to learn.

Haevyn had convinced Eldrin that they were just playing a game. Haevyn began to throw small chunks of stick at the lizard where Eldrin was supposed to hold up his bark shield to block, but rather had dropped it and began crying when he was bombarded with flying splinters. Haevyn showed the boy how to block again and it only took once or twice for him to get it. Haevyn thought that he might be ready for heavier objects. So Haevyn picked up a few rocks and threw the handful of them at the lizard. Haevyn saw the expression on the child's face as it went from amused to panic. Instinct kicked in as Eldrin summoned a light cylinder and hurled it into the air. Haevyn thought the light took the shape of a spear but when he blinked to refocus his eyes, the light spear came crashing down into the rocks and brought them to the ground around the boy. Haevyn had ducked, unsure of what was going to happen but when it got quiet, he looked up. Eldrin was huddled on his elbows and knees with hands covering his head, crying. Haevyn scooped up the boy in his arms and brought him into the house.

23rd of Mid Year 568

Eldrin had grown accustomed to having these strange games with his father. This one was just hitting small rocks with a stick as his father threw the stones at him. After a few hits, Eldrin thought it might be more fun if he swung the stick a little harder and hit the stones a little further. A few more hits went flying passed Haevyn and he thought that this might be getting a little dangerous. As he threw the next stone, Eldrin hit it and it went slightly askew, hitting a bird and knocking it out of the air. Eldrin threw the stick to the side and ran to the bird's aid. Haevyn was a wee bit slower than the boy but was by his side shortly. The lizard was on his knees, cradling the bird in his hands, and he began to weep. His father always knew that he was sensitive but Haevyn began to wonder if he would ever outgrow being this particularly sympathetic.

Eldrin had his eyes closed but the tears still streamed. Haevyn patted his son's back and fixed his gaze on the bird. As he stared, the bird seemingly started to glow a strange light. Haevyn blinked a few times to be sure his eyes were seeing things correctly. The light grew brighter and brighter and eventually flashed an apex of light ribbons and was gone. The bird started to twitch and move. Eldrin felt the movement in his hands and gasped as he opened his eyes to see the bird stand up and fly away. The boy watched the bird fly away in amazement and exclaimed, "Father! You healed it!" Haevyn blinked a few more times and rubbed his eyes, "I'm glad it's going to be okay." Eldrin immediately wrapped his arms around his father in a very awkward kneeling hug and Haevyn just patted the boy a few more times.

20th Sun's Dusk 576

Warrior's Festival was a day when merchants across Tamriel half the prices of their wares. It had become a normal game for Haevyn to play fight with his son using long sticks to block and hit each other. Haevyn's goal was obvious in playing these games with his son. In honor of the festival, he thought that today would be a good day to teach Eldrin how to handle a sword, after all the boy had been handling himself with a stick very well.

The pair walked just outside the house, Eldrin feeling the anticipation of their normal game. Haevyn pulled out two short swords and handed one to Eldrin. The lizard took the sword but looked at it concerned and confused. His pained gaze moved to Haevyn as if he was looking for an explanation. The Dunmer took up an attack posture and nodded to him to do the same. His eyes grew wide as his father lunged at him. They both held the swords in their right hands, forcing Eldrin to bring his arm across his body to block the oncoming sword to his left. A few more blocks and parries into it, the initial shock wore off and Eldrin's eyes went narrow for better focus. Haevyn really thought the boy was getting it, so he began to put his weight into his blows. Eldrin held his own well against the renewed energy of the assault. Haevyn swung for the lizards left again. Eldrin blocked awkwardly from underneath. The swing was aimed for his side just under his arm but his uncoordinated block ended up shifting the aim of the sword upwards. Haevyn had already committed his weight to the strike and ran the sword through the Argonians' shoulder. Haevyn let go of the sword immediately. Eldrin's eyes widened so much that his brows raised, his mouth opened slightly in awe, as he fell to his knees from the pain. His gaze shifted from his father's face to the sword sticking out from his shoulder. His concentration focused on not screaming out in agony instead of which direction he was falling. The Dunmer was still stunned with horror, but as soon as Eldrin began to fall forward, Haevyn caught him and helped him to his back. Hovering over him, the father began to yell for Rutalu. Eldrin was silent as blood oozed from his wound and he closed his eyes to sleep.

The morning light shone brightly onto Eldrin's face. He jolted up into a sitting position. As he did so he felt a shooting pain from his shoulder and moved his right hand to hold it. He felt bandages wrapped around his shoulder tightly, somewhat restricting the blood flow to his arm. His eyes weren't quite used to the light so he refused to open them again as he fell back onto his soft cot. He remembered the events of the day before and was grateful he had slept through most of the bandaging and aftermath. "Your father is mortified," his mother's velvety voice was rather comforting. He giggled, "Well he should be. He stabbed me." The first time Eldrin had ever wielded a sword and it ended like this. "You know he only wants the best for you," she said with a low voice. Eldrin scoffed, "Is running me through with a broad sword some sort of Dunmer show of affection I'm unaware of?" Rutalu hated that sarcastic tone, "He needs you to forgive him." Eldrin rolled over onto his good shoulder to face his back towards her and went back to sleep.


	6. Chapter 5

14th of Second Seed 6:23am

The Dunmer pair were mystified that they were being put in jail. Eldrin collected a nice bounty from the Ordinator that locked them away.

"Well I could use a drink. All this gallantry business is stressful," Kadriel seemed to be eyeing Eldrin's heavy coin purse.

"Yeah, that'll be alright, I do need to thank you for your help." The boy sighed.

Zuryl grabbed the coin purse, "Zuryl was out all night too! Rescuing stinking lizards is rough on her nose. She needs to be included in this gratitude giving!"

Eldrin glared at her, "Fine…"

As they set off to where ever Kadriel was leading them Eldrin continued, "Stinking lizards?" Zuryl put her hand on his shoulder, "Not this lizard! Other lizards smell like dead skeevers and rotting flesh. Eldrin smells like freshly cut flowers all the time yes."

All three of them smiled and laughed.

After they had arrived, Eldrin tried to buy three glasses of mead from the innkeeper while the girls sat down. The innkeeper wouldn't take Eldrin's coins telling him that heroes drank for free. When Eldrin sat down he handed them their drinks.

"So what else did you two want to do today? Rescue more captives?" Kadriel had a sarcastic edge in her voice.

"This one wants nothing but to sleep in the sun for today," Zuryl chugged her mead.

"Whoa there kitty," Eldrin took a sip after he made the remark. Kadriel laughed and Zuryl choked down her mead trying to hold back a laugh.

Eldrin smiled as he looked at them, "I still don't understand your obsession with mead, Kadriel." She grinned slyly, "I'm no Nord but it is better than Rotmeth."

Eldrin really enjoyed spending time with his friends no matter what they had done to his reputation, or rather fabricated for his reputation.

"So what happened to that Argonian that gave you the task to save his friends?" Kadriel wondered aloud.

Eldrin's stomach sank, "Xuth! I haven't been home all night!" He stood up midsentence and a dainty hand grabbed his arm, "You've stayed out before why should last night be any different?"

Eldrin was frantic, "There's no mugging excuse to save me this time. That Argonian went to my house! Who knows what he told my parents!" He desperately pulled his arm from her hand and exited the building.

The boy was using all his strength to run as fast as he could, _I haven't been home in a full day, if Rutalu doesn't kill me, Haevyn will._

The lizard stood on the porch for a while. After some thinking for what he would say he opened the door.

Rutalu was just setting some food down onto the table for Haevyn and herself, "Julekil!" She practically dropped the plates onto the table and ran to hug him, "We were worried about you, what happened?"

Haevyn didn't get up or say anything, he just began to eat. "What happened to the Argonian who came to visit you?" Eldrin sounded desperate.

Rutalu was annoyed he didn't answer her question first, "Nothing my little shoksuna. He told us you were helping him so he said he'd help us." Eldrin breathed a sigh of relief that things did not turn out too strangely.

Rutalu gestured for Eldrin to sit at the table with her. After he did so, she put some of the food on her plate onto a new plate for him. He smiled at her and they all ate together for a little while.

Haevyn stopped eating and put his fist firmly onto the table, enough to make it shake, "What's this I hear about you killing a mer?"

Eldrin felt like he spent most of his life recently with a confused look on his face. He swallowed his mouthful, "I.. well… uhh."

Haevyn pounded his fist on the table again, "Out with it!" Eldrin knew that his father appreciated honesty more than half truths, "I did, but it was accidental."

Silence followed so Eldrin thought it might have been a prompt to continue, "Zuryl and Kadriel saw the tail end of it and assumed it was on purpose."

Haevyn stood up, "I did not teach you to handle a sword so you could kill."

Eldrin stood up as well and looked around the room then back to make eye contact with his father, "He was a slaver and as I said before, a tragic accident."

Haevyn's eyes were full of anger but he composed himself well, "So because he was a slaver, he deserved it?"

Eldrin answered, struck by disbelief he was even having this conversation, "Well no, but—"

Haevyn interrupted him, "And you got your friends involved in something so appalling?" Eldrin didn't break eye contact and remained silent.

Haevyn grabbed a fistful of the lizard's sweaty shirt and dragged his face closer to his own, "If you're going to squander my teachings, pass your duties onto a stranger, and involve other people in your poor decisions then you are not to stay here a second longer."

Eldrin had never seen his father this way and was very unsure of how to respond so he giggled nervously and asked, "Are you serious?"

Haevyn's anger bubbled to the surface and he used the hold he had on the Argonians shirt to drag him across the top of the table and walked towards the door dragging the boy in tow.

Eldrin struggled against the hold, attempting to take the shirt off and Rutalu began screaming at both of them. Haevyn opened the door and chucked the boy out, yelling something about Eldrin not being his son anymore. He slammed the door as soon as Eldrin hit the ground outside with a tumble or two.

Eldrin lay there for a minute or two listening to the yelling coming from inside the house. Rutalu thought her son could do no wrong but Haevyn had a very different understanding of their adopted son than she did.

The boy sat up in a cross legged position and looked at the sky, _not even midday yet. Today is headed great places already._

Eldrin stood up and dusted himself off. He decided he might go see his friends again. Looking back at the house before leaving, he saw Rutalu watching him. He stared at his mother with a smile on his face and she waved at him.

The boy mouthed the words, "I'll be okay," to the woman in the window. She nodded but her eyes displayed nothing but worry.

Waving as he turned away, the boy headed towards the city.

Half a kilometer outside the city he walked by the same tree he had always passed but as he went by he heard a voice, "Unfortunate isn't it?"

Eldrin stopped to face the direction the voice came from. Standing there was a male Argonian wearing all black clothing. The hood and cloak draped over him covered his scales in darkness. His facial mask was well-fitted as it hid his entire face and moved very little when he spoke.

"What's unfortunate?" The stranger was leaned on the tree with folded arms, "Your truth."

The strangers tail waved his cloak a little while he paused for a moment, "Isn't it interesting that Haevyn reacted so strongly to the news of you killing a slaver?"

Eldrin's eyes squinted and his brow narrowed, "What? How do you—,"

The stranger interrupted, "I wonder what stories they convinced you of so they could raise you as their own… **That** truth is most unfortunate."

Eldrin was starting to get angry with the assumptions, "How do you know anything about them? Or me?"

The stranger stood up fully and took a step towards Eldrin but kept his arms folded, "My being here is not to answer your questions. I'm simply an observer."

Dumbstruck by the stranger's boldness, Eldrin asked, "No, you cannot just wait behind trees and make rash guesses about the first person to walk by. Who exactly are you?"

The stranger smiled under his mask although it was hidden, Eldrin felt it. The stranger moved a hand to seemingly fix one of his cufflinks, but Eldrin observed none.

The male Argonian waved a goodbye gesture, and then vanished. The boy looked around for a minute before he heard a whisper, "Explore the deep waters, little hatchling."

Eldrin looked around a little more before he said under his breath, "What deep waters…?"

The boy walked away shaking his head. Probably the weirdest thing to happen to him since these rumors started circulating but it certainly wasn't going to be the last. He didn't really trouble himself over what the stranger had meant while he walked back to town to locate Zuryl and Kadriel.

Sure enough, he saw the Khajiit sleeping in the sun on a hill near the front gates. He walked over to the sleeping cat and sat down quietly unwilling to wake her.

"Back so soon lizard friend?" He jumped slightly not expecting her to be awake, "Zuryl was trying to take a nap but surely Eldrin's problems are more important than sleep yes?" She sat up and looked at him with a tinge of annoyance.

"I've been thrown out of my house… Literally." Her face displayed surprise for a half second and then returned to annoyed as she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled his face closer to hers.

"Why tell this one about such misfortunes?"

The boys face was never very expressive and sadness was not something that conveyed properly on it, "Kitty, I'm sorry I woke you. Now please let go."

Zuryl let go of his shirt as he continued, "I guess, I'm not sure what to do next. Where do you stay these days?"

Zuryl smiled and leaned backwards onto her paws, "There is a Nord in the city that sympathizes with Zuryl. He feels bad for this Khajiit and lets her stay in the shack where he keeps his flimsy boat."

After a moment of silence went by, the cats heart melted slightly. Usually, she doesn't see Eldrin's posture show such exhaustion, "Zuryl will ask the kind Nord if you can stay. But your shedding scales better not litter the floor! This one is not cleaning up after filthy lizard."

The cat nudged his shoulder with hers and winked at him when he looked at her. The two sat there on the hill for a little while in silence.

Eldrin thought about telling the cat about the stranger but refrained. A purple oval of light appeared in front of them and a Breton wearing blue robes fell out of it. Eldrin stood up out of curiosity but Zuryl kept sitting like this sort of thing happens all the time.

The Breton stood up quickly and saw the two beasts staring at her. She seemed panicked as she ran up to Eldrin. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and brought his face very close to her own, "You have to help me!"

Eldrin rolled his eyes and grabbed her hands, "No no no. I am done being grabbed by my shirt today. It's like no one even knows what goes into sewing these things." Zuryl snickered in the background.

The boy squeezed the Bretons hands enough that they let go of his shirt. He dropped her hands immediately after he was released. The Breton's eyes shifted from the lizard to the cat, "I do not see the humor in this."

Eldrin crossed his arms, "You said you needed help?"

The Breton woman shook her head at the cat and looked back at Eldrin, "Yes. I do not have long in this dimension. I keep shifting into a different plane of existence. I am gone for longer each time and I fear that soon it may be permanent. Take me to the Mage's Guild hall to do some research before I shift again."

Eldrin made a hand gesture to the Breton to follow and he began walking towards the building she desired. Zuryl followed.


	7. Chapter 6

14th of Second Seed 11:22am

The Breton's eyes wandered all around the city. Eldrin and Zuryl steps were steady and unhurried.

The strange woman explained, "Some urgency is required." Eldrin sighed internally but didn't make a sound out loud, he began running to their destination.

Zuryl and the woman followed suit, "Is the portal dweller not curious where she is?" The Breton looked at the Khajiit who was still looking ahead, "It only matters where I am if I'm staying in this plane for a significant length of time."

They reached the door to the Mage's Guild and Eldrin gestured for the Breton to go inside.

"You have to come inside with me so you can continue the research if I disappear again before we reach a solution." Eldrin didn't say anything, obviously distracted by other events that transpired today.

The boy broke his stare with the woman and walked into the door before her, not bothering to hold the door open for either of his companions.

"Evanth! You're alive!" A voice called out before Eldrin could even have a look around. A Bosmer ran up to the Breton, "The whole guild is concerned! Where have you been?"

Evanth stuttered slightly, "I-I've been in a different plane of existence and I was hoping an answer existed here." The Bosmer blinked a few times and gestured for all three of them to follow her.

Evanth explained her situation to all of the guild and told them that Eldrin and Zuryl were her points of contact before she made it to the guild. Her random teleporting seemed to be a bit of an oddity but everyone weighed in with their opinions.

Several hours went by as everyone in the guild hall continued to read their books. Zuryl, however, had chosen to resume her nap in a chair near a window.

A High Elf approached her, "You… look familiar." Zuryl opened one eye to look at the High Elf and when she had gotten a good enough look, closed it again.

The High Elf stood there for a moment in silence and continued, "Do you belong to the guild?"

Zuryl let out a big breath of air, "This one is not interested in your stories High Elf. She has some rather important business to finish that was interrupted by some fetid lizard. A nap was to be had by this one and you are very much hindering the progress of the work."

A little confused and offended the High Elf wandered away.

After Evanth was done being bombarded with questions from her guild mates, she turned to Eldrin, "Thank you for getting me here."

The boy looked up from the book he was hunched over, "I'm sure you could have gotten along without me." She put her hand on his shoulder, her lips moved but no words could be heard.

A strange purple light was being emitted from the soul gem embedded in her choker. Eldrin stood up straight and grabbed her hand on his shoulder. She smiled at him as the glow extended to him and before he could remove the hand, they both vanished.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eldrin didn't know how long it had been but he awoke on an unfamiliar floor of sorts. He opened his eyes to find his face in a puddle of liquid and his clothes were soaked through.

The lizard sat up with a hand on his head and the other resting on his knees which were in a cross legged position. The watery clothes clung to his body and he thought about how oddly wonderful it felt.

With squinted eyes he examined his surroundings. Different shades of purple were all around him, the background being the lightest shade of lavender.

The ground seemed to be invisible but there were little purple rocks and plants scattered across the plane along with puddles held in unseen shapes. His eyes wandered to the Breton woman lying on her back looking upwards.

Continuous mumbling was coming from the woman but none of it made sense. He got up slowly and started to walk towards her when a shrill voice filled the air, "Evanth! You brought another mortal to our playpen? Oh, I do love Argonians though."

Eldrin looked around, alarmed by the voice. After a few seconds of silence the boy unpaused. Kneeling down near Evanth, he noticed her choker was missing.

Scaly hands shook as they grabbed Breton shoulders. As soon as his hands made contact with her clothing, her back arched and contorted in a strange manner as she began yelling.

The startled Argonian reeled backwards onto his hands as he looked on in horror. "I erect the spine of warning petite one, Evanth needs her space," the same shrill voice from before was condescending and sharp.

Eldrin looked around again but this voice seemed to be coming from all around him.

"What's wrong little lizard? Confused?"

Eldrin stood up, "Did you just call me petite?" The voice laughed for awhile and then continued to spit up tired Argonian phrases.

Eldrin gathered up his thoughts, "Where is Evanth's necklace?"

The voice sounded surprised, "Oooh so straight forward. What necklace?"

Eldrin rolled his eyes and his shoulders dropped in exhaustion, "The necklace with her soul gem in it."

The voice wondered aloud, "What's it to you little one?"

"I think you give it back to her when you send her back into Nirn but you have a shard of it… here, wherever this is." Icy blue eyes explored their surroundings.

The voice was a little angry which made it more grating to listen to, "Haha! Your imagination is phenomenal lizard! Where did you come up with this nonsense?"

The boy was growing exhausted from the situation. His axiety already overwhelmed thinking about home.

Eldrin shrugged his shoulders and sighed, "I've lived with a healer for a long time, and she experiments with soul gem magic. I know that the magic is sometimes dangerous, I just had no idea there were entities in realms like this that are lonely enough to keep calling back the same Breton."

The voice stuttered in anger, "L-lonely?! Evanth dear, I believe our guest has worn out his welcome. Would you please purge him from our home?"

Eldrin looked back at the twitching Breton on the ground to find her slowly rising without the use of her limbs. She seemed to be floating upwards into a standing position with ragdoll elegance.

As soon as she was upright, her eyes locked with the Argonians eyes and he could feel the anger radiating from her.

Evanth outstretched her arm and fired a purple beam of light at the boy. He dodged with a roll and began running from her. She floated after him with an unhurried pace and fired beams at him at random intervals.

Eldrin started to panic as he was running away. Hopping over various blank spaces as he wasn't sure where solid ground was. Diving between boulders and larger hills spotted with lavender grass, he tried to think of a plan.

Several minutes went by before he managed to pant his thoughts out, "Getting Evanth to do…. your d-dirty work d-doesn't seem… like a reasonable idea," Eldrin huffed the statement out as he kept running.

The entity asked, "And why is that little lizard?" Eldrin stopped and turned to face Evanth, "What if I decided to defend myself?"

The entity paused for a moment and the pause reflected to Evanth as she stopped as well, "It wouldn't matter, as long as Evanth overpowers you."

The woman began to float towards the Argonian again and he unsheathed his sword. "Haha! What are you going to do? Stab her?" The voice was almost daring him.

Eldrin rolled his eyes and started to make his way towards Evanth, rolling and dodging where necessary. He was within arm's length of the girl as he drew his elbow back getting ready for a thrust into the Breton's stomach but as he pushed forward she vanished and the voice was shouting at him, "Wait! Don't hurt her!"

Eldrin stood up straight and looked around, "Why not?" The voice grew quiet.

Eldrin sighed, "Just give Evanth her necklace back… Intact. And send us home." The voice turned tender, "But then she'll…"

The lizard nodded, "She won't come back, but there's nothing for me to do here except… well you get the idea."

Everything was quiet for a minute or two but then laughter started to fill the air, "We are not far. Come find us lizard."

Eldrin looked around for what felt like the hundredth time. At the end of one of the pathways, he saw Evanth's body lying on the ground again. Next to her, there was a small pink cloud with a tiny face on it.

Eldrin burst into laughter when he saw it, "You are the owner of this realm?"

The lizard was trying to recover from his laughing fit when the puff started laughing too, "Oh, you have no idea."

The mutual laughter confused Eldrin, as he wiped a tear from his eye he saw dozens of pink tentacle-like limbs coming from the pink puff. His eyes grew wide, his brows lifted and his mouth gaped open as the protrusions started to make their way towards him.

The extremities hit the ground so hard the entire realm seemed to shake.

 _Thank goodness its' aim is as good as Evanth's with the beams._ He laughed internally.

Eldrin continued to dodge the projections and run his way up to the doom puff. The plan for getting out of this mess was forming in his head as he got closer to the entity.

Evanth's necklace lay on the ground under the wisp and Eldrin snagged it with a roll when he was close enough. Exiting the roll too overzealous and landing on his stomach, he scrambled to find a rock. Tentacle appendages were closing in on him as he held a rock over the necklace,

"WAIT!" Everything stopped moving for a second heeding the lizards cry, "I'll destroy the gem and kill Evanth if you don't release her... permanently."

The boy was huffing and puffing trying to catch his breath.

The pink cloud laughed again, "What would stop me from killing you after she's gone?"

Eldrin was shifty eyed and paused for a moment to think. Eventually he raised the rock over his head, "We'll find out then."

The cloud shrieked, "NO!" Eldrin stopped mid thrust and looked at the puff's face, "Don't kill her, please." Eldrin assumed the tiny face displayed a sad expression although it didn't appear to change much.

"Give the shard back and send us home," Eldrin never thought he'd miss the sight of Nirn so much, but this realm was strange enough to make him reminisce.

"But then I'll never see her again…" The puff tried to bargain. Eldrin sighed, "It's that or she dies and then you kill me. Either way, you'll be alone."

The wisp disappeared promptly and the air filled with the sounds of crying.

An orb of white light appeared on the ground near Eldrin as the ominous sobbing sounds continued. The soul gem shard appeared as the light faded and he immediately picked it up to put the gem back together in the necklace.

The lizard scrambled over to the Breton as quickly as he could, the dreadful sounds of weeping in such a pitiful tone were starting to drive him mad.

A shriek came from Evanth as he placed the necklace back on her neck. She began to seize and Eldrin instinctively straddled her and held her shoulders down to the ground to prevent any damage to either party as she flailed.

Eldrin, again, woke up on a strange floor. Lying on his back facing towards the ceiling with two unfamiliar Dunmer faces looking down at him, he quickly sat up.

The boy looked around for a moment while the Dunmer were whispering to each other. Locating the door, he rapidly began to walk towards it, "Sorry for the intrusion."

The awkward wave he gave them as he shut the door behind him even made him shudder with discomfort.

The lizard found Evanth passed out at the foot of the stairs. Staring at her for a minute, he decided what he was going to do.

Hoisting her up over his shoulder caused him some pain, _Damn couldn't that thing have put us back in the guild hall? At least we're still in Mournhold._

The boy made his way back to the guild hall carrying the Breton girl.

"Elly!" He turned to face where the voice came from.

"Kadriel..." He said with a smile and a sigh of relief. The wood elf stood by him with wide eyes, "What's with… the… uh… bride?"

Nervousness had such a hold on the boy that he barely noticed his weariness from carrying the Breton. Shaking his head furiously he said, "No no no. She's just…uh… I really need to get her back to the Mages guild so I must get going."

Eldrin turned away from the Bosmer and began to run. She followed him, "So who is she? Why is she passed out? And why are you going to the Mages guild?"

The lizard kept looking forward, "It's a long story. Can you just wait until we get to the guild and I'll explain then?" She nodded but he wasn't looking at her, so he took her silence as agreement.

The threesome was greeted into the guild hall and subsequently bombarded with questions. Eldrin explained what had happened inside the portal and discussed the nature of the entity.

"Evanth should stay in this realm now that her soul gem is whole again," Eldrin sounded so confident that it scared him, it's not usually a feeling he has. He did not want to stick around for when Evanth woke up, afraid if she would remember him trying to stab her.

The lizard attempted to make a quick exit but more questions followed, "So the entity was lonely and sought companionship from Evanth?" Eldrin nodded at the random Mages guild member.

Another question came from the crowd, "How did the entity get a shard of her soul gem?"

Eldrin's lip curled slightly in perplexity, "It's my understanding that Evanth does a lot of experiments concerning portals. Maybe she opened up a portal to this other realm by mistake?"

The crowd began to whisper amongst themselves. Eldrin mumbled under his breath, "Yes maybe everyone should be more cautious about opening strange portals…"

The members of guild at the front of the crowd thanked him with gold and he left the hall with Zuryl and Kadriel.

"So you saved another person?" Kadriel asked.

Eldrin dropped his head, so tired of her nonsense, "No… well yes but can we please not make a big deal of out this?"

All three of them were just standing outside the guild hall and Kadriel nodded, "Sure we won't. But they might." She pointed to the hall and Eldrin groaned.

Zuryl laughed, "Zuryl's nap was interrupted by some lizard's imaginative problems then stinking lizard uses problems to save Breton woman."

The cat gestured to Eldrin as she went on, "This one is very tired. Good night friends." She walked away from them and Eldrin tried to follow her.

"Where are you going Elly?" Kadriel queried. He stopped, "Oh right I haven't told you yet. Zuryl is letting me stay with her since my parents disowned me."

The Bosmer's brows crinkled, "What? Your parents… What?!" Eldrin broke into a sprint to follow Zuryl but turned his head back towards the wood elf, "I'll explain later, but I don't know where Zuryl lives so I must follow!" The wood elf sighed audibly and hung her head before she headed home as well.


	8. Chapter 7

14th of Second Seed 10:47pm

The lizard tried to keep pace with the Khajiit but she was quick and stealthy. He rounded a corner and ran straight into an Argonian woman.

They both fell to the ground and as Eldrin looked up, holding his head, he recognized Nam-Na immediately. "I'm so sorry Nam-Na, I wasn't looking where I was going."

He stood up and held out his hand to help the woman up. She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. "That is alright, Eldrin. I was actually looking for you."

Nam-Na continued to dust herself off instead of look at the boy. Eldrin's embarrassed expression shifted to surprise. "You were?" He looked beyond the Argonian for the cat, _Damn now I'll never catch up to her._

"Yes I heard what happened with your parents and I would like to open my home to you for a few nights at least."

Eldrin's eyes squinted and his brow contorted slightly. He thought about how weird it was to see Nam-Na outside of her fruit stand, and even stranger to see her out this late into the evening, _And in this strange alleyway? What is she doing?_

Now that he wasn't going to find the cat and he didn't know where she resided, "Uh yeah… that would be great." Nam-Na gestured for the boy to follow and he fell in line behind her.

The city was dark and the walking paths were even darker. Eldrin was curious as to how the woman knew about his parental troubles but chalked it up to his undeserved reputation and gossip.

Nam-Na lived in a shack somewhere near the wall of the city, a fairly unremarkable building; although Eldrin thought it might be a stretch to call it a building. She opened the door and gestured him inside.

It was too small for one person let alone two but the Argonian woman had set up another sleeping area as if she was expecting him tonight. He made himself at home right away as there wasn't much choice with the limited space.

She sat down on her small cot and looked at him. He looked her in the eyes and they held the contact for a few minutes. The boy grew uncomfortable and giggled in awkwardness.

"So how did you hear of my troubles with my parents?" Eldrin decided to break the silence. Nam-Na smiled, "A friend told me that you might need some advice."

He squinted his eyes at her, "Advice on what? What friend?" The boy's thoughts turned to the stranger from earlier.

She looked away from him towards the ground, "On where to go from here." Eldrin tilted his head to try to catch her eyes again, "Excuse me?"

She locked her eyes with his again, "I believe Shadowfen might hold some answers for you." Even more confused, "Answers to what?"

She grabbed his hands and he jolted slightly from the intensity of her eagerness, "Who you are. Since you were born away from the Hist it might do your roots some good to reconnect."

The boy broke the stare and hung his head low. His shoulders slumped and he let out a sigh as he tore his hands from hers. He stayed silent for a long while.

Eventually breaking the silence with more objections, Eldrin let his mind wander aloud, "I can't just go to Shadowfen and ask the locals to help me. Where would I stay? How would I get there? What am I looking for? It's a long walk and I don't even know where in Shadowfen to start looking for help. And why are you even suggesting going there?"

Nam-Na grabbed his cheeks and forced his face to look her face, "You are Saxhleel, find a tree minder in Hissmir, they will be able to further guide you."

She let go of his face and as he inhaled to say something she covered his mouth, "You need all the rest you can get before you set out tomorrow." She moved all her extremities away from him and rolled over onto her cot.

"Tomorr—?," She cut the boy off with very loud snores and he rolled his eyes. The boy sat there for a while, very distressed over the news. Finally heeding her advice, he rolled over and closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep.

The next day, Eldrin was awoken by Nam-Na bumping into his sleeping space as she tried to move about her quarters. After taking a tail to the face he finally stood up and headed for the door.

She blocked his way and held a plate up to his face, "Eat while I get your pack ready." He took the plate out of hunger, _Pack?_

Eating standing up was nothing the lizard was used to but there was no cutlery in sight so he dug in with his hands.

The boy watched Nam-Na as she shoved almost everything she owned into a small sack. After he had finished eating, she immediately took the plate from the boy and set it down. Two outstretched hands tried to give him what they were holding.

Eldrin took the pack from the woman but in her other hand was a piece of parchment, "What's that for?"

She smiled and shoved it onto his chest, "It's a voucher for some supplies in the market. Give it to the Dunmer near the wagon on the south side of town."

His hands reached up to grab the parchment from her hands on his chest. As soon as her hands were free she shoved the boy out her door, "May your scales stay moist!" The door slammed as he turned around to look at her.

Eldrin stood there for a few moments trying to figure out what just happened. Either way he now had a Dunmer to go see.

Walking towards the market, he looked around for a familiar face. He arrived at the wagon and a Dunmer woman greeted him, "Hello!"

Eldrin was nervous, unsure of what to expect, "Hi, I have this for you?" Outstretching his hand to hand the parchment to the woman, she ripped it out of his hand.

The woman hurried to the other side of the cart and came back to Eldrin with two large bags of weapons. As she handed the parchment back to Eldrin she said, "It's all yours. The parchment suggests there are some other vendors in the market that have more for you."

The lizard had no idea what was happening, so he just thanked the woman and grabbed the large bags.

As Eldrin headed for the market, he stumbled a few times from the weight of the bags. On the last misstep he almost fell and dropped the bags, but a familiar Bosmer caught him and the bags, "Good morning your gracefulness."

Eldrin attempted to gather up the bags and regain his balance, "Kadriel, thank you." She giggled, "What do you have there?"

Eldrin continued to fumble with bags but eventually Kadriel just took one off of him, "Weapons? I'm not sure. I'm being sent all over the marketplace this morning."

He decided to start walking and Kadriel walked alongside him, "By who?" Eldrin wasn't sure who either. There was no way Nam-Na had the resources to just give him all these things, "Whoever issued this parchment." He showed it to Kadriel, "It was sealed? Wow must have been someone important…"

As they reached the marketplace, Eldrin stopped at the nearest vendor to ask about the parchment. The vendor there pointed the pair to another vendor on the other side of the circle.

Eldrin approached the Redguard running the stand, "Hello, I have this for you." The woman took the parchment and hoisted two more bags on top of her sale counter.

Eldrin and Kadriel shot each other looks of amazement. Without much more hesitation they each reached for a bag when two paws swiped the bags first.

Zuryl looked at the lizard and wood elf with swagger, "Where are we going, friends?" Eldrin gestured over to a nearby hill and the other two followed.

The three of them dumped the contents of the bags onto the ground so they could all go through the contents together. There were assortments of different weapons and various materials for armor crafting.

There was one chest piece made of metal. All three of them knelt down to pick up and examine diverse things. "What is all this for?" Kadriel couldn't understand why anyone would just be giving this stuff away. Eldrin replied calmly, "For my travels. I'm going to Shadowfen."

Eldrin automatically picked up the cloth and leather, admiring their pristine nature. "I guess we know who our Tailor is going to be," Kadriel laughed. Eldrin put the materials down and gave Kadriel a very serious look, "We? You two aren't tagging along."

The girls asked the same question at the same time, "What?" Eldrin was surprised with their coordination and reeled slightly. Kadriel followed up her question, "You get all this stuff for free and expect us to let you enjoy it by yourself?"

Eldrin inhaled to reply but Zuryl was too quick for him, "No no no, the lizard will die without this one. Zuryl would cry tears of sadness and paw at skeevers wryly."

Zuryl picked up the metal chest piece and held it up to Eldrin's chest, "An ill fit to be sure. This one will show you her worth on the roads of travel!"

The cat ran away with the armor. Kadriel picked up a bow and began to admire it while she said, "I guess she's our blacksmith."

Eldrin snatched the bow from Kadriel's hands, "You two are not going." He put the bow on the ground and Kadriel grabbed it again, "Please Elly. You need us." Eldrin's eyes met hers, they were inconsolable and he instantly felt guilty for denying them passage to come along.

He sighed, "Fiiiine. That makes you the carpenter and the alchemist." Kadriel retorted, "What? Two jobs!? I don't even see any alchemist supplies here."

Eldrin rolled his eyes and picked up a book from amongst the pile. He handed it to the Bosmer, "You'll have to figure it out because we'll need healing potions unless you have secretly been a healer all this time."

Kadriel sat with her legs crossed, laid the book down in her lap and folded her arms to pout, "You expect me to read?! It's like a thousand pages long!" The lizard shook his head.

Eldrin picked up a sword and felt its weight in his hand. As he inspected it, he noticed the insignia just above the hilt. All the weapons bore the same insignia, the letter S with a square swirl forming the bottom of it.

After another hour or so of deciding what they could carry, they sold the rest of the items. Zuryl had returned to fit the breastplate onto Eldrin. It fit surprisingly well, and it was very light especially for his small frame.

Zuryl pulled a full set of armor out her pack and handed it to Eldrin, "It is not Dunmer origin, which Zuryl thought you would appreciate, yes."

Kadriel decided to stick with her bow and Zuryl did the same with her daggers. It was Eldrin who hadn't figured what he needed. He settled on a sword and shield along with his new crafted set of heavy armor.

Finally all three of them were ready to set off for Shadowfen.


	9. Chapter 8

15th of Second Seed 1:09pm

The trio had only been walking for an hour two when they came across a frantic woman clinging to the side of a large boulder. The three of them all stopped moving when the woman made eye contact with them and put a finger to her lips to silence them.

Zuryl and Kadriel began to tip toe to the rock once the woman focused her attention on peering around the other side of it. Eldrin glared at them with disdained eyes and refused to move.

The ground began to tremble slightly as a large Kagouti was barreling towards the party. It was at least double the size of a normal one. It rounded the corner with a skid into the middle of the road. When it regained its footing it began its charge again.

The woman started to run towards Eldrin as soon as it rounded the corner. Zuryl climbed the nearest boulder with graceful ease. Kadriel was quick to draw her bow and fire a few arrows into the creatures' forehead plate. The beast kept running unfazed by the barrage of arrows and the Bosmer had no choice but to jump and roll out of its path.

The woman continued to run straight passed Eldrin. The Kagouti lowered its head as it drew closer to him. The lizard stared at the oncoming creature with wide eyes.

Zuryl and Kadriel shouted at the same time but two very conflicting messages, "Dodge!" While the other said, "Block!" Eldrin was virtually frozen in place. Just before the Kagouti made its impact with the lizard, he cringed but his body responded differently.

The boys arms moved in front of him without locking his elbows and his feet shifted with one slightly more forward than the other. A pillar of light appeared in his hands as the lizard and creature collided.

The sound of ivory tusks and light hitting each other echoed through the corridor. Eldrin slowly opened his eyes when he realized he wasn't being trampled. Just like times before, light magic within his body salvaged the situation.

The Kagouti drove Eldrin back several meters but his feet dug into the ground and stopped the Kagouti's charge. Once stopped, the beast continued to push into the boy and thrash its head about. It felt like time had slowed down and every toss of the animal's head drained his arm muscle stamina.

"Well?! Are you two going to do anything?!" Eldrin shouted anxiously.

Kadriel unloaded a few more arrows into the brute's backside but none of them seemed to do anything. The Kagouti didn't even flinch. Zuryl muttered something under her breath but her only movement was to shift her weight for a more comfortable sitting position.

Confident that they'd had enough time to help, Eldrin became vastly desperate. Instincts took over and he summoned all his strength for one burst of power which he used to drive the beast back enough to withdraw and stab it with his magic rod.

He forced the light spear through the creature's forehead at a downward angle. The spear popped out the other side of the fiend through its torso. The beast collapsed and as soon as it hit the ground, the spear disappeared.

The Khajiit and Bosmer ran up to Eldrin and looked at him in wonderment. Before any questions could be asked, the woman grabbed the boy from behind and embraced him tightly.

"Thank you!" Eldrin blinked a few times in surprise and kindly removed the foreign arms off him.

"What happened? Why was that creature chasing you?" The boy asked of a woman who was now looking a little embarrassed.

She traced the corpse of the creature with her eyes, "I live very close to a Kagouti herd but they've never given me any problems before today." She paused, thinking over her next words, "Something must have upset them recently. Would you mind looking into their disturbance for me?"

Eldrin rolled his eyes internally. _Why do strangers even want the help of other strangers?_

Before he could answer Kadriel answered for him, "We'd love too! Which way is it?"

The woman pointed and Kadriel grabbed Eldrin's arm. She pulled him in the direction the woman indicated. Zuryl followed idly.

Eldrin waited until they were out of ear shot of the woman, "And just what in Oblivion are you doing?" He yanked his arm out of the Bosmers grasp.

Kadriel smiled, "You just saved that woman's life. Now we're going to go save her home. I imagine she'll be very grateful and grant us a hefty reward." Zuryl nodded and purred, "Yes!"

Eldrin scoffed, "We?! Us?!" Kadriel giggled, "Yes silly!" Eldrin sighed and kept quiet; knowing that arguing with the Bosmer was more of a bother. Who knows? Maybe they will help this time.

"That spear made of light the lizard wielded was brilliant. Made Zuryl wish she was a cub again to play in its glow," Zuryls voice was so matter of fact.

"Hey yeah what was that?" Kadriel asked curiously. All of them stopped in their tracks for a moment and the girls looked to the boy for an answer.

One of his brows was higher than the other, "I'm… honestly not sure." Kadriel shrugged and began her trek again. Eldrin followed with Zuryl a few paces back.

The house was not far from where they ran into the woman but the property was crawling with large Kagouti. The herd looked distressed, grunting at one another frantically. They were knocking things over, then spending several minutes to sniff through everything, grunting at others if they got too close then threatening them with haughty head gestures.

Zuryl broke their silence, "This is not where they live! This one thinks that we will have to locate where they enter their sleeps and have their hideous babies in order to understand their rage, yes?"

Eldrin rolled his eyes and looked at Kadriel with disinterest, "This is becoming a lot of work…"

She waved her hand in a 'shut up' manner, then gestured for the other two to follow. Kadriel examined the ground as she led them to… somewhere. She picked up her pace until they came across a cave.

Eldrin grabbed her arm as she tried to enter the cave, "What are you doing?"

Kadriel looked up at him with a tinge of disgust, "Those Kagouti are looking for something. I saw a few nests on our way in and all the eggs were broken like they'd hatched recently. Did you see any baby Kagouti out there?"

The boy let go of her arm as she yanked it away, "What are you suggesting?" Eldrin asked knowing he wouldn't like the answer.

Kadriel's tone turned arrogant, "I saw some humanoid footprints near the nests and leading to this cave."

Eldrin grew impatient, "And?" Kadriel shrugged at him, "And I don't know what we'll find!"

The boys shoulders dropped in an exhausted manner as Kadriel set off into the cave. The Argonian and Khajiit followed her.

Kadriel and Eldrin were crouched low, sneaking around corners. Zuryl grew bored of their antics so she followed them with her arms crossed, standing tall.

"This cave is rather exciting no? Oh! Look friends! A rock! Breathtaking!" Zuryl said gesturing widly. The other two ignored her sarcasm. She crossed her arms and stopped walking, "Zuryl would rather bathe in cold, crocodile infested waters than stay here any longer."

Kadriel turned her head and whispered loudly, "Leave or shut up!" Zuryl smiled. Her posture changed to giddy as she turned around and left.

A few more minutes into their descent, they started to hear whispering. As Kadriel rounded the next corner, she gasped. She threw her body weight backwards behind the corner. Covering her mouth with a hand, she shook her head at the lizard.

Eldrin whispered, "What?" He moved to pass her but she stopped him with a hand, "Don't." The boy looked at her, waiting for an explanation. "They're carving them."

The lizards brow crinkled more, "Who is carving what?" Kadriel stifled a dry heave before she whisper-shouted, "The Kagouti young! As for who, I don't know! Cultists?"

Eldrin was still confused, "For what?"

Kadriel went from sick to bored with the lizard, "How should I know?"

The boy shook his head, "Maybe we should ask."

Kadriels face displayed a look of repulsion, "No really Eldrin. If you'd like to reason with obviously crazed individuals about why they're cutting up baby animals then have at it." Eldrin shrugged and stood up tall.

As he rounded the corner, Kadriel grabbed at him whispering, "I was kidding!" eventually unable to hold him back.

In a very nonchalant manner, Eldrin started, "Sorry to interr—" As soon as they heard his voice the cultists stopped what they were doing and pointed all of their cutting utensils in his direction.

He stopped his advance, throwing his hands up to his shoulders, "I don't mean to intrude but I was hoping we could find an alternative to..." His eyes wandered all around to see what exactly they'd been up to. Baby Kagouti corpses and pools of blood littered the floor. "...Whatever it is you're doing here." He gestured around the room gently.

There were only three cultists and one of them stepped forward as their apparent leader, "It's none of your concern."

Eldrin argued, "It kind of is because you're disturbing a herd of Kagouti by butchering their children for what looks like no reason."

The leader put his hands behind his back while the other two still aimed knives at The boy, "It is a small summoning ritual to rouse the spirits within ourselves and understand the true Divines plan. Now, run along child, before the Taskmaster uses your corpse to further His agenda."

Eldrin's eyes shifted from side to side, "Wait sorry I'm lost, 'true' Divines?"

The man lunged at the lizard and the other two followed suit. Eldrin was quick to draw his shield and sword and Kadriel rounded the corner as soon as she heard commotion.

Eldrin smashed the leader's face with the shield and he fell over backwards. Kadriel put an arrow into one of the follower's necks and the other was close enough to start jabbing at Eldrin. He met the flailing blade with his shield but hesitated to strike when he saw an opening.

Kadriel took the opportunity to fire a few arrows, one of them pierced the back of Eldrin's shoulder and he reeled a bit. Once he was out of the way, Kadriel's spray of arrows killed the last follower.

"Kadriel! Did you just shoot me!?" She walked up behind him and yanked the arrow out, "You were in the way so I helped you get out of it." Eldrin mumbled under his breath, "Helped is sort of subjective here."

A groan came from the leader on the ground. Both the lizard and wood elf twitched with surprise as if they'd forgotten about him and ran over to the man. As he sat up, Eldrin pointed the sword at the man's neck. The man started to spout whatever nonsense religious trash he felt like, "Fever forces the body to heal itself. The only way to cleanse the world is through disease."

Kadriel looked at the man in utter bewilderment, "What kind of pristine brand of insanity are you? Who kills baby Kagouti for fun?"

The man giggled for a while with blood running from his broken nose, "Not for fun! For the greater good of cleansing Nirn! The sounds those things made when we stuck them were terrific! They whined infinitely and it was immensely satisf-," Kadriel grabbed Eldrin's hand holding the sword and forced it into the man's neck.

He made some gurgling noises and Eldrin yanked his hand away in astonishment. She let go of his hand and he withdrew. The pair looked at each other, surprise embedded in both their faces. The sword was buried so far in flesh that it hung there until Eldrin removed it.

The corpse fell to the ground with a loud thump while Eldrin still stared at the Bosmer. They had a conversation through eye contact alone but Eldrin recovered much quicker than the girl did.

"Well you could have let him finish…" Eldrins tone was flat.

Kadriel had tears welling up in her eyes, "And let him relive killing all those innocent creatures by describing it to us?! No! He was a truly disgusting being! He deserves to be gutted and his insides used as exercise equipment!" The boy didn't say anything; he just stared at her while she stared back at him.

Small whimpering noises began to fill the air. Kadriel instantly broke her stare with the lizard and searched the cave for the source. There was a cage of baby Kagouti tucked away in the back of the cave; all of them were still alive.

"Elly! Look! There are some left!" Kadriel promptly opened the cage door and all the tiny babies ran for the exit. Eldrin smiled at the wood elf, "You better make sure they all find their parents." She nodded and ran after all the little ones.

Eldrin searched the bodies on the floor for anything of value he could use. After he'd looted everything of worth off the corpses, he headed for the exit.

The leader possessed a journal. Eldrin opened the dusty old book and began to read while walking. Most of it was incomprehensible but it pieced together the plan they were trying to accomplish. The organization those three cultists were working for was never titled in the text.

Eldrin reached the mouth of the cave to find his friends happily watching some Kagouti reunite with their young.

"What is the lizard reading?" Zuryl wasn't very interested in what happened in the cave or what he was reading but she learned it was polite to ask anyway.

Eldrin looked up at the girls, "Mostly the ramblings of a mad man but he mentions something about a Taskmaster? It sounds more sinister than slicing up a few animal babies."

Kadriel wanted nothing to do with the lunatic in that cave anymore so she turned to find the woman and collect their reward. Eldrin began showing Zuryl the pages as she nodded frivolously.

"The idea behind killing the Kagouti young was to breed a disease within their corpses. It sounded like a trial as they haven't discovered the kinds of corpses that actually cultivate the disease." Zuryl let out an 'oh' and 'ah' here and there to keep up her interested façade.

"Honestly Elly, how can you read that rubbish?"

Eldrins answer was instant, "It's interesting albeit a little gruesome."

Kadriel threw her arms in the air and shouted some profanities. The boy didn't pay much attention to the Bosmer, as he continued to show Zuryl some pages in the book.


End file.
